


Astra inclinant, sed non obligant

by AetherBunny



Category: Ex Machina (2015), Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Body Horror, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Gen, Hux is Not Nice, Implied Relationships, Non-Graphic Violence, Protective Poe, Robot Feels, Spoilers, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-17 02:53:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8127598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AetherBunny/pseuds/AetherBunny
Summary: The man known globally as only Hux had chosen him. Well, not literally. He was drawn at random from a pool of all the programmers in his company. He was to assist Hux in whatever "world changing project” he was working on at the moment. A project so secretive it would require legal documents and a week's isolation in Hux's work space.A crossover between Ex Machina and The Force Awakens. You don't have to have seen Ex Machina, but a) it will help and b) this will kind of spoil some plot points if you intend on watching it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> "The stars incline us, they do not bind us."

The man known globally as only Hux had chosen him. Well, not literally. He was drawn at random from a pool of all the programmers in his company. He was to assist Hux in whatever "world changing project” he was working on at the moment. A project so secretive it would require legal documents

and a week's isolation in Hux's work space.

 

Poe would have hesitated, but really he wasn't getting any younger and opportunities like this only came along once in a lifetime. He had only one person to tell, she would be watching his apartment (and cat) after all. Leia was an old family friend of his parents and all but raised him after they died.

 

He was flown out to the middle of nowhere, it took the helicopter hours just to land in a clearing several miles from the compound. He was given a direction and told to walk. Thank goodness he was in reasonable shape or he'd be a mess by the time he got to the door.

 

Or what was probably the door.

 

He stated his name to a recorded voice and seconds later a photo was taken and an ID card was printed out. _Then_ he was _finally_ allowed inside. Hux greets him with a handshake, and Poe wasn't really sure what he expected. Hux was -honestly- a small man. He was a reasonable amount taller than Poe, but he had the kind of thin pale frame stereotypical of someone in a technical field. Still there was something striking, almost regal about him. He was immaculately dressed and not a bright orange hair was out of place on his head. He was clean shaven, and ageless. Poe put them near in age all the same, just as a frame of reference for his own thoughts. If something were to go wrong, he could probably take Hux on he thought in an attempt to quell his nagging anxiety. Who he could not take was Hux's private security. She was introduced to him as just _The Captain_ and she was not to be engaged. She was quite tall and muscular, and her short hair cut along with her title indicated she was probably ex military. He made a mental note to stay on everybody's good side.

 

He was given a tour and told if his card opened a door it was fine for him to enter, but any room he was denied access to was for specific private reasons and he was not to try and get in anyway.

 

Then over dinner he was told what he was really there for.

 

“I've made something and I want you to test it...”

\--

 

Seeing the AI in person was nothing like seeing him on the screens. He's not sure what possessed Hux to give the synthetic body the qualities he did, but Poe was certainly curious.

 

The face was youthful but sturdy, with a strong jaw. The dark skin of his hands, feet and face were a sharp contrast to the sterile white plating on his body. The mechanics of his frame were visible between the armor-like pattern of the plating. His eyes were tired but kind. Overall he appeared just as curious as Poe.

 

 _Do AI even get tired?_ He wondered to himself, _could they be programmed to? What purpose would that serve?_

 

"Hello." He spoke with a warm voice in an accent akin to Hux's. "I'm FN-2187."

 

“Well that's no good.” was out of his mouth before he could stop it.” A series of minute emotions passed over FN's face. He was quite lifelike. “Sorry I mean, I was expecting a name name.”

 

“That's all I've ever been called.” he looked sheepish.

 

“Sorry again, sorry. I'm Poe Dameron, I'm here to test you.”

 

“Test me?” Poe never liked to beat around the bush, and maybe being up front with him would make up for sticking his foot in his mouth right away. Undoubtedly Hux wouldn't be pleased Poe showed his hand, but he only really expected a slap on the wrist for it.

 

“Yeah, Hux wants me to figure out if you're really _truly_ artificial intelligence or just something close.”

 

“I see. How do you want to start?” FN tilted his head a little.

 

“Well, let's just talk.”

 

They talked all afternoon. It was easy to forget that FN wasn't human even in the face of all his exposed mechanics.

\--

 

“Why didn't you give him a name?” Poe wasted no time at dinner that night.

 

“I didn't suppose he needed one.” Hux responded before lifting the fork to his mouth. Poe was too far from The Captain to see the way her eyes widened and darted between the two men before she composed herself again.

 

“That's a little mean, I mean, if you wanted to make him human naming him would help.” Hux's brow furrowed for a split second.

 

“If you're so concerned, why don't you choose one for him then?” Hux offered. Poe was pretty sure he was being mocked, but he would take the opportunity anyway.

–

 

“Hux said I could give you a name if I wanted to.” He told FN the next time they met.

 

“He did.” another set of expressions passed over his face.

 

“Yeah, and well I think you should get to pick, it's your name right?”

 

“Right but I don't know what I'd want to be called.”

 

“Well, FN is close to Finn? That's a perfectly normal human name?”

 

“I kinda like that, Finn. Alright Poe, it's nice to meet you. I'm Finn.”

 

“It's nice to meet you too Finn.” Poe responded and the young android's face lit up.

–

 

Finn was not all smiles the next time they met. Part way through their conversation about what Poe would do if he wasn't a computer programmer, the power went out. Finn stood up quickly then, and got right up to the glass separating them.

 

“Get out of here Poe, get out of here by any means necessary. You can't trust Hux, this isn't what he's telling you it is he's -” Finn was cut off by the power returning. “I can't imagine what it would be like to fly I wonder if you could take me some day?” Finn immediately went back to their previous conversation without missing a beat. Through his mental whiplash Poe did his best to follow along.

–

 

The power went out that next afternoon too.

 

“You have to believe me Poe you need to get as far away from here as possible. You're in danger, Hux is a monster.”

–

 

Suddenly Poe had his chance. His chance for what he wasn't exactly sure but Hux had announced very suddenly there would be no session with FN-2187 that afternoon (he didn't seem to like Poe had named him something else). There was emergency communication from a team working on another one of his projects and he had to go stop whatever it was before it got worse. He didn't say what project it was but Poe suspected it was something referred to as “Starkiller” by people who had a vague idea of what it could be. In the great workplace game of telephone Poe was reasonably sure it had to do with aeronautics technology, but what kid he didn't know.

 

Curiously the Captain did not go along. Maybe Hux forgot there was somebody else in his house, or that's maybe the reason he left her. All he same he tried to hunt her down.

 

Well, first he tried to get in to see Finn anyway. No dice. As he roamed the hallways trying door after door he thought he should come up with a plan. Poe was positive he wouldn't be able to fight it out with the Captain, and if she were working for Hux there was no way in hell he could buy her off. He just hoped she was able to be reasoned with. He was pretty good with people after all. Leia always said he could charm the devil, he just hoped she was right.

 

He didn't expect to find her in a dark room lit only by monitors. Each one was connected to a different security camera somewhere on the property. She must have known he was there, the door had made a click sound and the lighting very obviously changed but she didn't move a muscle. He was prepared for a direct confrontation not getting her attention.

 

“Hi Captain, ma'am. Uh. I got a little lonely. Um. I'm so used to doing whatever Hux sets up for me now that he's gone I don't know what to do with myself.” She looked at him but made no other indication she was listening. He continued anyway. “I don't mean to interrupt anything but I'd feel a little better if I were around somebody else, you know?”

 

“No.”

 

“Oh.” He got an answer and he was neither surprised nor satisfied by it. He sat in one of the nearby chairs and watched the monitors with her for a few minutes. Finally the one in Finn's room hit in the rotation.

 

“Finn.” Poe said mostly to himself, but it got the Captain's attention anyway. “Have you two ever met?”

 

“Yes.” She looked away from him and the screens.

 

“What did you think of him?”

 

“Very advanced.”

 

“Is he the real deal?”  
  


“Yes.”

 

“You really think so?”

 

“I am not programmed to be dishonest.”

 

“What?” Poe half laughed caught off guard by her multiple word answer just as much as what she said.

 

“I am not programmed to be dishonest.” She repeated.

 

“Funny, I get it.” She only looked at him. “Because you know you work with Hux and...”

 

“I am incapable of humor.”

 

Then it hit Poe like a ton of bricks. He could do no more than sit there and look at her. He swore she was trying to look contrite but couldn't get her face to play along.

 

“Oh my god.” he whispered. He gave himself a moment to try and calm down. He wasn't going to get much further if he couldn't keep the bile down. Eventually he felt confident enough to talk again. He was just going to put it all out there.

 

“I came to find you because Finn's been saying things about Hux, negative things and I thought if I could confront you and you got defensive about them it would prove they were true. In retrospect that was a shit-awful plan. But I don't think you can get defensive can you?”

 

“No.”

 

“Captain.” He was calm, he was so calm. The calmest he'd ever been in his life. “What is going on here?”

 

She cleared the room in a few strides and sat at one of the side computers, clicked things here and there and typed a few passwords. Then she got up and motioned for him to sit in the chair.

 

What Poe saw on the screen went from expected strangeness to stomach turning. Presumably another AI, this time an innocuous looking man with dark hair (his folder read MTKA). His body casing was dark and plain, making it look like a human head was stuck on a mannequin. He was being run through a series of physical stress tests, jogging, push ups, pull ups and then suddenly he was getting shot at. He was standing at military rest at one end of the range with Hux at the other. Then Hux recording the damage he sustained. There were more tests then against different weapons, he skipped through a few for time.

 

The second folder (TRPRS) revealed what looked like the prototype for Finn's body. It was the same white plating on a headless body. Then there were several helmet like heads tested, and a few different variations of body types. It was not quite as involved as the one before it...

 

Then a third folder (CPTP), this one gleaming silver even through the lens tint. It was of the same basic model as the TRPRS before it, but it was much larger. Poe estimated it was maybe even a little taller than Hux himself. It was certainly built stronger that's for sure. CPTP wasn't given a face, just a silver version of the TRPR mask. He skipped around it's extensive testing before moving on to another AI folder (this one was labeled just “BEN”). If only he had watched just a few more...

 

BEN was made to look entirely human his face surprisingly young and innocent looking. He seemed to be something of a teacher's pet, he had hundreds of videos in his file. Poe started to click around and with every video he wished he hadn't. More stress tests, these going way beyond what MTKA and the others were subjected to. More shooting, more treadmills, he was taken to the pool, left under UV lamps, hung upside down. Half of his testing seemed to relate to the durability of his synthetic skin. BEN seemed to grow less and less pleased with all of it, his curious expression turning neutral to sour. Finally he seemed to snap, one video recorded him destroying everything in his room and going after CPTP who was presumably sent to stop him.

 

Then things got worse. He was given a small squad of the TRPRS which he proceeded to tear apart with his bare hands, going well beyond necessary to dismantle them. Poe wondered the kind of power was contained in BEN's frame. Then the long absent MTKA appeared and was nauseatingly stalked and dismembered just as quickly as the others. He had struggled against his attacker but was easily overpowered. It was clear BEN held no sympathy or kinship with the other AI. He and CPTP were made to fight, and all in all were similarly matched. BEN would up victorious more often simply for the fact that he seemed to take pleasure in the cruelty. The fights stopped when CPTP was badly damaged.

 

He was left on his own more then, for hours at a time on the treadmill, under water, isolated for days at a time. He was constantly enraged then and Poe had no idea why Hux let it go on so long. Then in one final spectacular display of displeasure BEN tore off his own head.

 

Poe fought against the bile rising in his throat again. He felt a hand on his shoulder. The Captain.

 

“Did you have to watch all this too? Standing there silent against the wall while your cousins played battle bots?”

 

She raised the hem of her shirt and peeled a section of her skin back to reveal a shiny chrome plate.

 

“CPT is captain.” He said quietly. “Of course.” Then after a pause. “What's the other P?”

 

“Phantasm, p-h-a-n-t-a-s-m, noun. A figment of the imagination, and illusory likeness of something.” Hux sure had a sick sense of humor.

 

“Why?” He rasped, unsure why he asked.

 

“I am the likeness of a human but I have no will of my own. I am programmed to follow commands and answer questions.”

 

“I mean what's the point of all this?” He motioned at the monitor.

 

“MTKA was the prototype for both body and the AI software. TRPRS were the improvements on the body casings and overall movement. I was the final body design, start of the skin testing, and upgrades to the AI programming. Initially I had free will just as MTKA and later BEN. BEN was the culmination of all our contributions. His behavior made Hux paranoid and after BEN's self destruction I was reprogrammed. FN-2187 is his fresh start.”

 

“If I ordered you right now to go jump off the nearest cliff?”  
  


“I'd have no choice.” Poe paused. Hux was a sick fuck that's for sure, there had to be a way out of this.

 

“Where are they now? The others?” He asked her. She responded by getting up and opening a nearby door. Then another then another. MTKA or what was left of him, white armor bits from TRPRS, and lastly BEN with a smooth black head piece jarringly attached to a bare synthetic human body. He's not sure how long he stood there staring at them.

 

“Tell me, are you content here?” His question came out aggressive despite himself.

 

“No.”

 

They waited there in silence his thoughts blurred into useless nonsense. He had to try and sleep.

 

“Go relax if you can. Power down or...something.” He motioned at her and headed for his own room.

–

 

Poe lie in bed, his head spinning. He had to make a plan, Hux couldn't get away with all of this. He knew he was under observation all the time, but part of him held out hope Hux never got around to observing his interactions with the Captain. She would be his secret weapon.

 

Then Finn, poor Finn. Poe had a nauseating suspicion about what Finn was the next step towards. But he was just a kid, truthfully he supposed, he wasn't a kid at all, he was-” No he couldn't think like that. Hux thought like that. Finn wasn't just a machine, he was a living thinking being just like him and there had to be a way to get him out.

–

 

Poe wasn't sure when he fell asleep, or when Hux got back, but he was there at breakfast immaculate as always. If Hux had seen his rendezvous with the Captain he said nothing. If he had, Poe wished he would say something. Waiting around to see if he was going to get in trouble was worse than whatever punishment would follow.

 

\--

 

“Finn, Finn I've seen things I-I know what you're made for Finn we have to get you out.” Poe wasted no time the next afternoon when Finn switched off the power.

 

“I don't think you do Poe.”

 

“I've seen the videos of all the others, he's going to-”

 

“No, Poe, listen. He wants me to- to befriend you, seduce you, and then when you ask him if we can be in the same room he wants me to kill you. Just with my bare hands. He wants to see if I'm capable of that. And if I won't do it voluntarily _this time_ he'll reprogram me to not have a choice. I don't want to! I don't want to do it! He's going to take me apart he's going to make me hurt you!”

 

“That's not going to happen. Look at me Finn. I'm not going to let that happen.” Inside Poe was screaming this was even worse than what he had come up with on his own, but he couldn't let Finn see. “Here's what we're going to do. Listen.”

 

\--

 

Poe knew he had to confront Hux to get the whole thing started, he just didn't know how. In the end he decided to be direct it had worked for him this far.

 

“I know what Finn is for.”

 

“Do you?” Hux didn't look up from the papers in front of him.

 

“He's supposed to kill me.”

 

“Did he tell you that? You don't have to answer, of course he did.”

 

"He's not a killer, he won't be! He's -”

 

"Not human Poe! He's a machine, he's MY machine, I made him and I can take him apart.” Hux was getting mad. Poe could see the flush spread down the back of his neck. “Do you know what _Finn_ is really for? He's a prototype weapon, a literal killing machine. Why send men to fight your wars when the perfect soldier can take their place. Trouble is he wound up too soft. And it's all because of-”

 

“BEN?”

 

“How do you know about BEN?” Now Hux turned to look at him.

 

“You're not the only one that's good with computers here, remember?”

 

“It would be impossible for you to get into those files, unless.” Hux got up and turned to the Captain.

 

“Leave her out of this!” Poe got a little louder than necessary to get Hux's attention back on him. “The point is, you can't just play god!”

 

“But I can and I am. If I wanted to I could make an entire army of AI just like FN-2187 down to the last hair. I wanted to keep it simple with the helmets but the buyer wanted them to better pass for human.”

 

“The buyer?”

 

“You don't think I'm doing this for fun do you? 2187 is worth more even as scrap than you'll ever be.”

“That's it!” Poe lunged. He had Hux up against the wall with his hands around his throat before the other man could react. As long as he could keep Hux from giving the Captain orders he might stand a chance.

 

“Go break the glass in Finn's room! Bring him here!” Poe shouted to her and she was off quicker than he anticipated. Now it was time to see if he was right about being able to take on Hux. The red-head was a lot faster than he expected but Poe had a lower center of gravity and actual trips to the gym under his belt. By the time the Captain returned with Finn at her heels (and bits of glass in her arms) Poe had him pinned to the carpet.

 

“Don't let him get away with this!” Hux shouted to her, but his request was to vague, she did not act. “Stop him!” Hux tried again as Poe did his best to cover his mouth. The Captain put an arm out in front of Finn. Poe laughed despite the circumstances.

 

“Captain!” He called to her. “Would you help me restrain him?” She moved towards the pair. “Make sure he can't talk I'll be right back.” Poe disappeared for just a moment, and returned duct tape in hand in time to see her fist close tight around Hux's neck. Finn was in the corner looking somewhere between horrified and relieved. The Captain's expression remained neutral.

 

“That's not really what I had in mind.” he said weakly as she released her creator's limp body. _It's better this way. You know he'd never get punished for what he's done._ A small voice whispered in his brain, and it was right. “Okay now how do we get out of here?”

 

“He has a hangar?” The Captain supplied.

 

“Great. Wait. Finn you're gonna want to be covered up at least for now. Come with me.” Poe lead him to his room and dug through his bag to find a set of clean enough clothes. Luckily the two were sort of the same size. He managed to get Finn into a pair of dark jeans and a long sleeved athletic shirt to hide his arms. Poe topped it off with his favorite leather jacket.

 

“Are you sure?” Finn asked running a hand down a sleeve.

 

“Yeah, it looks nice on you. Now come on we've gotta get out of this place.”

 

“You're hurt.” Finn stopped him with a gentle hand to the split in his lip (to say nothing of his forming black eye or other scrapes).

 

“It's nothing, come on.” Poe took his hand to lead him back out.

 

The Captain took them to Hux's hangar and in and among the prototypes for who knows what there were a couple of perfectly good planes ready to go. Once in the air Poe wondered what exactly he was going to do with a couple of AI, Captain should definitely get an upgrade or something for her troubles (and another name). Maybe he should reconnect with that clever girl from engineering, Rey? Or ask Leia about her reclusive tech wizard brother? Either way there was nothing to be done about it from the air. So he'd worry about it all when their feet hit the ground.

 

**Author's Note:**

> There was no way I was going to make Poe the bad guy here (even if Oscar Isaac was so good at it), and it makes more sense to keep Hux as the villain anyway. I had been trying to justify Rey as the AI, but my brother had very logically stated it should really be Finn. From there everything else fell into place.
> 
> It was also hard to make it as dark at the end as the original thanks to good guy Poe.


End file.
